


Physical Traits

by Seagoatink



Series: Survival Isn't Pretty [7]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-22 01:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8267855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seagoatink/pseuds/Seagoatink
Summary: Cheska had a piece of chicken crammed in her mouth and nearly spat it out. Instead she opted to talk with her mouth full. “Before this gets too out of hand, Please remember James is not my type for a reason, Garrus.”





	

Sitting. 

Waiting. 

No one found doing nothing with their downtime stylish. Especially Commander Shepard. Her hair was short and messy, fun to run her fingers through. A week before the reapers attacked earth, her hair was buzzed off. Now it was at least three inches long and starting to curl again.

As she slid into a tank top, her fingers sifted through her hair, which was soft despite the crap the Alliance called shampoo. One of the unexpected perks of having an alien boyfriend was not needing to conform to human beauty standards. Like long hair, or breasts. Though Vega always made very curious comments anyway.

After tying her shoelaces, she headed to the shuttle bay. James offered to let her use his weights and pull bar. Now that she had some down time, Shepard was going to take him up on that offer.

Entering the shuttle bay, Shepard was quick to notice neither Vega or Cortez were there. She settled for assuming they were playing poker and took advantage of her peaceful workout. When she was finally satisfied with her workout, the commander made her way to the crew’s quarters for something to eat and drink. 

“Damn, Commander, you’ve got curves!” James called down the hall from the game room. He appeared to have finished up a game with Joker, Ashley, and Garrus.

Ashley passed him, managing to nudge his shoulder while doing so. “Careful now, that is the _commander_ you’re talking to,” she warned with a chuckle.

James hesitated, but laughed away his uneasiness. “The commander doesn’t care. Right, Lola?” He asked, now following the rest of the group down the hall to the elevators.

Cheska winked with a grin. She spun around on the ball of her foot then struck a pose. One hand was on her waist, and the other at her head. “Gotta keep up my girlish figure if I want to model for Armali Industries.”

James stopped in his tracks. Then he tilted his head to the side and squinted at her. “Are… Are you serious?” He asked.

The commander stared at him, letting her pose fall.

“Right, I’ll be grabbing some grub…” James said, giving up.

“Thanks for letting me use your weights by the way, Vega,” Cheska said as she fished through the fridge for cooking supplies. “Hey, Ash, I still owe you a meal. You OK with grilled chicken or something?” She asked.

James muttered a, “No problem.” Then turned his attention to Garrus.

Joker sat down at the counter, watching the commander cook with Ashley. “If I recall correctly, you said you brought me some booze from the Citadel for saving your ass,” he said with a cheeky grin on his face.

“I left it at Anderson’s apartment, figured you could use some shore leave and maybe see the place for yourself,” replied Cheska. She was cracking eggs, probably to use for flavor or extra protein. Like the rest of the goddamn military, the Spectres were subject to devouring as much protein as they could to keep up their muscle mass. Neither were as beefy as James, granted that was not their goal.

“The admiral let you use his apartment?” Ashley questioned. It had been a while since she kept in contact with Shepard. And she was out of the loop when it came to most things, thanks to her general disinterest after Cerberus put the commander back together.

Cheska nodded. “He actually gave me the apartment… Being stuck on Earth and all.”

The other spectre’s head fell. “Right. I just didn’t realize the two of you were so close.”

Joker interjected, “She was the colonist on Mindoir.”

“Right, sorry, must be all that brain damage from that Cerberus mech,” Ashley said, doing her best to keep up with all the new information being thrown at her.

The commander placed her hand over Ashley’s. “I don’t expect you to know everything in the universe. Don’t beat yourself up over it,” she muttered softly as Joker looked away.

James and Garrus were at the tables talking. About chicken apparently. Probably because Cheska was cooking up some and the smell was filling up the floor. On more than one occasion the commander was told how wonderful her cooking smelled and how much better it tasted. Vega must have been convinced he was schooling Garrus on the matter.

The turian didn’t seem very intrigued.

Chicken was left to cook, sizzling on the stovetop. The commander chose not to use oil, to keep splatter to a minimum and avoid blistering burns. She set up vegetables too. Then poured herself a glass of water. Ashley and Joker had already helped themselves while Shepard cooked for them. 

It was hard to hear anything over the sound of crackling meat. But once it was taken off the burner and set aside on plates to be cooked, Shepard could hear her environment much better.

“-normally compliment human women?” She could hear Garrus ask Vega in a hushed tone. 

Ashley and Joker sat quietly, knowingly as the the commander turned around and handed them their plates. She was listening into what they were saying. Shepard raised a brow at the two in front of her, hoping they could offer silent context.

The other spectre shook her head. She was covering up her laughter with her hand.

Joker on the other hand offered a cocked brow in return along with a smirk that said, “You know where this is going.”

“Their legs, their curves, whatever looks good, really,” Vega responded, hardly skipping a beat.

“But how would I describe those attributes?” Garrus questioned, still confused on the subject. “Women compliment each others’ hair all the time, but words am I supposed to use?”

Vega shrugged. “Well, for just about any situation, I’d use _sexy_.”

Cheska had a piece of chicken crammed in her mouth and nearly spat it out. Instead she opted to talk with her mouth full. “Before this gets too out of hand, Please remember James is not my type for a reason, Garrus.”


End file.
